What do you think?
Rate this book
Two Timely Issues: The New Mass and the Possibility of a Heretical Pope
Amid the liturgical confusion following the Second Vatican Council, many Catholics did not know where to turn for guidance about the critical yet complex matter of the Novus Ordo Mass. This book was part of the debate from the beginning, with Brazilian author Arnaldo Xavier da Silveira publishing his analysis seven months after the New Mass went into effect.
It is an exhaustive study that leaves no stone unturned and immediately became controversial. Pope Paul VI tried to suppress it. Thus, the book circulated only as mimeographed copies among bishops and members of the traditional networks that formed around the world.
Since then, Two Timely Issues: The New Mass and the Possibility of a Heretical Pope has decisively contributed to the debate. The Portuguese original was translated into Spanish, French, and English.
However, there was never a definitive English edition. This 2017-revised edition now fills the void. It is especially timely given the renewed liturgical wars that have erupted.
Two Timely Issues is a must-read for those who grieve for the devastation caused by the liturgical revolution inside the Church. It is a battle manual to help those resisting the self-destruction in the Church.
It is an exhaustive study that leaves no stone unturned and immediately became controversial. Pope Paul VI tried to suppress it. Thus, the book circulated only as mimeographed copies among bishops and members of the traditional networks that formed around the world.
Since then, Two Timely Issues: The New Mass and the Possibility of a Heretical Pope has decisively contributed to the debate. The Portuguese original was translated into Spanish, French, and English.
However, there was never a definitive English edition. This 2017-revised edition now fills the void. It is especially timely given the renewed liturgical wars that have erupted.
Two Timely Issues is a must-read for those who grieve for the devastation caused by the liturgical revolution inside the Church. It is a battle manual to help those resisting the self-destruction in the Church.
384 pages, Paperback
Published September 29, 2022
13 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
January 31, 2023
One of the most important books of the 21st century. In such confusing times this is a war manual on how to approach the new mass and Traditionis Custodis. Very well studied and informative while still holding on to a filial love of Holy Mother Church. I cannot recommend this book more.
February 18, 2023
The first words of this book's forward caught my attention: "You are holding a forbidden book." In fact, Pope Paul VI forbade this book(the part on the New Mass) from being published in an order that was delivered to Brazilian Bishop Castro Mayer, who had supported the author. This was after the book had been mailed to all the Brazilian bishops.
So why was this book singled out by Pope Paul VI? What was in the book that would cause him to do this?
I recommend getting a copy to find out for yourself. This book is a must-read.
So why was this book singled out by Pope Paul VI? What was in the book that would cause him to do this?
I recommend getting a copy to find out for yourself. This book is a must-read.
December 27, 2022
It is said that Abp. Lefebvre once commented to a seminarian in 1977 that this was the best book on the New Mass. That is quite believable given the excellence of this book. The author's research is deep, his arguments are compelling, and his judgments are reasoned and measured.
The work tackles three difficult questions head-on (not sure why the book was given the unfortunate title of "Two Timely Issues"):
1. Whether the New Mass is good or bad -- De Silveira's devastating presentation of the problems with the New Mass was so feared by Pope Paul VI that he forbade the publication of the work, seven years after he had abolished the Index. This is one of the reasons why this book is so little known in the English speaking world. The book is worth the purchase for this section alone.
2. Whether it is possible for a Pope to promulgate a liturgy that is dangerous to the faith -- De Silveira points out that, while theologians have traditionally held that disciplinary laws are infallible, they have yet always qualified their opinion with limiting clauses. As such, circumstances can indicate that they are not so. In the case of the New Mass, it was clear that Pope Paul VI did not want to engage the charism of infallibility by the fact that he stated: "the rite and the respective rubrics are not by themselves a dogmatic definition; they are susceptible of theological qualification of varying value, according to the liturgical context to which they refer".
3. Whether a Pope can be heretical and, if so, whether he falls automatically from his office -- This has to be the clearest presentation of this topic that I have seen to date. De Silveira takes St. Robert Bellarmine's treatment of the question and identifies five different possible opinions on the question. Then, he considers which opinions theologians in the history of the Church have chosen as their own on the question. De Silveira himself leans towards the fifth opinion, that a heretical Pope automatically loses office once his heresy becomes manifest. This does not mean that De Silveira is a sedevacantist. On the contrary, as he clarifies on p. 230, the heresy is not manifest as long as the vast body of the Church continues to accept the Pope. There needs to be some procedure against the Pope by which he is rebuked for his heresy and he persists in it for the heresy to be manifest.
In short, this book is gold and I highly recommend it for the thoughtful reader trying to make sense of a very confusing time in the Church.
The work tackles three difficult questions head-on (not sure why the book was given the unfortunate title of "Two Timely Issues"):
1. Whether the New Mass is good or bad -- De Silveira's devastating presentation of the problems with the New Mass was so feared by Pope Paul VI that he forbade the publication of the work, seven years after he had abolished the Index. This is one of the reasons why this book is so little known in the English speaking world. The book is worth the purchase for this section alone.
2. Whether it is possible for a Pope to promulgate a liturgy that is dangerous to the faith -- De Silveira points out that, while theologians have traditionally held that disciplinary laws are infallible, they have yet always qualified their opinion with limiting clauses. As such, circumstances can indicate that they are not so. In the case of the New Mass, it was clear that Pope Paul VI did not want to engage the charism of infallibility by the fact that he stated: "the rite and the respective rubrics are not by themselves a dogmatic definition; they are susceptible of theological qualification of varying value, according to the liturgical context to which they refer".
3. Whether a Pope can be heretical and, if so, whether he falls automatically from his office -- This has to be the clearest presentation of this topic that I have seen to date. De Silveira takes St. Robert Bellarmine's treatment of the question and identifies five different possible opinions on the question. Then, he considers which opinions theologians in the history of the Church have chosen as their own on the question. De Silveira himself leans towards the fifth opinion, that a heretical Pope automatically loses office once his heresy becomes manifest. This does not mean that De Silveira is a sedevacantist. On the contrary, as he clarifies on p. 230, the heresy is not manifest as long as the vast body of the Church continues to accept the Pope. There needs to be some procedure against the Pope by which he is rebuked for his heresy and he persists in it for the heresy to be manifest.
In short, this book is gold and I highly recommend it for the thoughtful reader trying to make sense of a very confusing time in the Church.
April 6, 2023
An excellent book describing the liturgical problems of the Novus Ordo Mass based off of many theologians and also laying out the conditions of a heretical pope based on saints' writings.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews